Molt is defined as the routine loss and replacement of feathers. It can occur at any time of year, but in most birds a complete molt occurs in late summer and fall and a partial molt may occur in early spring. The timing of each molt is important. In late summer and fall, there is generally an abundance of insects, seeds, and fruit that provides the energy for molt. This molt provides birds with fresh plumage and often colors and patterns that help conceal it in winter environments.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a very unusual woodpecker with distinct male, female, and juvenile plumages as shown in the accompanying photos. Adult males have a red throat, a black bib, and a slightly yellow-tinted breast; adult females have a white throat, black bib, and yellow-tinted breast. Juveniles have a gray throat and breast for much of their first year.

Gray Squirrels are common in cities and towns across eastern North America and made their way across the Great Plains and all the way to California as a result of establishment of cities and towns built and planted with trees. Some squirrels no doubt made the move on their own – well-meaning humans who enjoyed their presence introduced others. The antics of squirrels just seemed to belong in the neighborhood.

Halloween is a holiday that brings to mind creatures of the night such as bats and many spiders. These nocturnal creatures are ones we have some unease about because we rarely see them, encounter them by surprise in the dark, and often have little understanding of their role in nature. We often misinterpret their behavior and they sometimes leave us with a sense of fear of what they might do to us. Yes, tropical American vampire bats drink blood and in doing so can transmit disease to its victims. North American and most other bats are insect eaters that provide an important service in consuming mosquitos that can transmit diseases to the animals they bite. Most bats also consume large numbers of moths and other insects that feed on plants that our livestock or we depend on.

Orb-weaving spiders are those spiders that create webs in which flying or falling insects are captured. Many, such as the Banded Garden Spider, the Golden-silk Orb-weaver, and the tiny Orchard Spider are active during the day, some, such as the Tropical Orb Weaver are primarily active at night. Most create a new web each day. If you have a wooded area, you can often go out shortly after dark with a flashlight and find Tropical Orb-weavers as they begin to create their web for the evening. By morning the web is gone and the Tropical Orb-weaver is in hiding among dense vegetation.

Our Black and Turkey vultures are common sights in Florida skies.An adult Black Vulture on the left and a juvenile on the right. Note the black colors, the wrinkled head of the adult, and the tiny feathers and lack of wrinkles on the head of the juvenile.

Woodpeckers are easily recognized as they excavate nest and roost cavities and retrieve food from their chosen habitats and Florida has recently been home to at least least nine species – including the likely extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker, the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and the winter-resident only Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Each species has (or had) its own unique niche – the habitat where each lives and how they use it: the foods they depend on, and the dimensions and locations of their nest and roost cavities.

Hurricanes can be disastrous and Florida sticks out like a sore thumb directly in the path of many hurricanes. It’s the heat of the sun and curvature and spinning of the Earth on its axis that initiate the movement of air over ocean and land. And its summer heat that warms surface water that creates the humid air and water-laden clouds that come with a hurricane. The juxtaposition of Florida’s land mass and the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico – the northern end of which is in a subtropical climate – makes us a target for hurricanes – many of which move north through the Gulf of Mexico, feeding on the warm waters there.

Rainy nights – especially night after night of rainy nights – are very busy times in nature – not so much because of a race for shelter by some animals, but because of a race to breeding frenzies and a race for food. Amphibians – with their moist skin typically race from moist shelter across areas that are dry most days to breeding frenzies at nearby ponds and roadside ditches that are swollen by rain. Rainy nights are also breeding times for crayfish, earthworms, flatworms, and other moist-skinned creatures that spend daylight hours in moist seclusion. High nighttime humidity allows some moist-skinned creatures like tree frogs to gather around lights to feed on insects also attracted by the light. Mass nocturnal movements to breeding areas also bring out nocturnal predators such as owls, bats, coyotes, snakes, and some lizards to feed on the moist-skinned crowd.

Muscovy Ducks are so used to humans that we can learn close at hand from their wild ways in our environment about behaviors and characteristics often shared with other duck species. For example, ducklings often follow behind their mother single file and close together. As shown in photos, each duckling usually has two white spots on its rump. Those may serve as false “eyes”. Predators normally attack from behind to avoid potential injury from prey. The false “eyes” on the rump of ducklings may thus reduce the potential for attack. Swimming single file and close to the parent likely also contributes to duckling safety. Viewed from behind, the group may initially appear to be a single, larger, potentially more dangerous animal such as an otter.